Archive for the ‘Adobe’ Category

Set on a verdant land parcel dotted with large mature trees, the Three Trees House house is nestled -much like a fork- between three large trees. The premise for choosing to situate the building amidst the trees was to preserve the existing trees while enjoying the natural setting in close proximity of the habitable areas. The house is conceived as an assembly of two fairly rectangular blocks, the east facing front block and west facing rear one. Both are connected by a narrow, transparent, staircase block. The largest tree of the three, a flowering Kachnar(bauhinia), becomes the centerpiece of the courtyard space. The shaded north facing courtyard is further animated with different rooms fronting onto it along with the large overhang canopies providing constant play of light and shade. As experienced from within the house, this space brings an enhanced sense of openness inside and also unfolds constantly changing views of the outdoors, as well as the building, as one moves around the house and vertically between different levels of the house.

ELL is a 5,500SF ground-up Beverly Hills Spec residence designed for Luxe List. The building is located at the crest of the Benedict Canyon hillsides, overlooking the entire serene landscape of the Beverly Hills neighborhood. The project is loosely situated within the footprint of a former, now demolished, one-story 1950s residence.

Early architecture was built maybe merely to accommodate people. As time changes, city breath permeates into architecture and stamps them with urbanization. Just like the old residential buildings in shanghai.

Transformation of Medellin, education and culture have been the main platform for true social changes, where physical infrastructures are essential in the inclusion of quality policies in areas where state hasn’t been before and low levels of human development are common. These spaces are operated from Educational Ministry and Citizen Culture, seeking mainly to improve the education quality to reduce dropout and repetition rates in early grades in elementary school. This project it’s about how to contribute to citizen encounter, integrating these infrastructures to the city, to its inhabitants and the recovery of public space.

A new chapter in the cooperation between Progetto CMR and HP, the world-famous US high-tech firm: after the offices in Rome, the Italian integrated design practice designed the new HQ in Cernusco sul Naviglio (Milan), the “Innovation Centre”.

Located in an existing building, the new HQ count two floors and one basement, for a total area of 3000 sqm. Each floor has its own dedicated function. As the name suggests, it is not a common office building: besides the office area on the first floor and the technical floor on the basement, the ground floor hosts a large expo area (650 sqm), where the visitor is welcomed to a tour among the most innovative HP products, a journey that also describes its mission and values.

Challenging the local San Francisco vernacular with powerful contemporary style, this new apartment building designed by Stephen Phillips Architects (SPARCHS) plays with viewer perception to create dramatic visual and spatial effects.

Situated at Historical Fourth ward Houston, Texas, Shotgun Chameleon (designed and build by Zui Ng with ZDES) is Inspired by Gulf Coast raised shotgun houses and versatility of chameleon skin. The design emphasizes programmatic flexibility and response to climate. The chameleon-like front screen element provides a myriad of facade possibilities to adapt this design to different urban contexts and to a variety of solar/ wind orientations. Possibilities include wood siding painted to blend with the street-scape, billboards where commercial uses are feasible on the ground floor, louvered wood (vertical or horizontal depending on orientation) to allow for breezes while blocking direct sun and providing privacy, solar panel screen to harvest solar energy, or vine covered screens reminiscent of French quarter balconies. As for the alternating wood slats screen on the sides, they provides privacy for both residents and the neighbors while allowing sunlight and wind to move through the house. A double height glass windows frame an ever evolving urban view at the South and a floor to ceiling opening frame the four seasons views of nature at the north.

The latest Design Initiatives project is for a new ground-up construction of 2 story single family house with 5 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms in charming Mar Vista area of Los Angeles, California.

It has minimal, clean, soft and organically waived surfaces for relaxing and joyful experience what resting at home should be. In the same time the very practical and functional layout will support the young couple with two kids in their everyday routine.

The project involved the renovation of a house built in the 1920s, to transform it into the first restaurant specialized in serving waffle sandwiches in Mexico, along with a great variety of freshly brewed coffee made with the best extraction methods available.

Bake Darling is a new franchise concept in Mexico focused on selling all kinds of pastry-related products, the variety of articles they handle , their forms and uses forced us to create a design concept in which they could be arranged in a more efficient and orderly manner, being that the display space was very scarce. Hidden forms, wooden elements and light draw attention to onlookers and customers alike attracting many kinds people into the store, almost no one leaves without buying a guilty pleasure or two.